Transportation Business Resources
Protecting your cargo and your transportation business is our business. Travelers is dedicated to helping freight brokers, fleet operators and logistics firms reduce preventable losses and costs through our products, vendor alliances and claim processing. We use our transportation experience and science to assist companies with security best practices, proper securement techniques for loading and handling, theft prevention, and road safety issues.
Travelers on Freightwaves Podcast
Freightwaves is the leading provider of trucking news, media, and analytics for truckers, intermodal, and logistic operators. Travelers has recently contributed to the Freightwaves “What the Truck” Podcast series to share insights on topics ranging from choosing the right insurance carrier to commonly overlooked coverages to trends in cargo theft. Give each a listen.
Podcast #32: Reefer Problems*
In this episode of “What the Truck?!?” we cover the risks associated with refrigeration with Christopher Carpenter, Inland Marine Regional Lead, Risk Control at Travelers. Join us for a deeper dive into the common issues that can cause refrigerated cargo losses, such as improper loading and storage, mechanical issues and breakdowns, lack of emergency procedures and more.
Aired: 5/15/23
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(SPEECH)
TIMOTHY DOONER: Maybe.
(DESCRIPTION)
Text, Subscribe: FW TV, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Apple Podcasts, Spotify. “What the Truck?!?” logo. Travelers. Today's Show: Christopher Carpenter, Reefer Madness, Best Practices, Tech, Elsewhere. Dunavant: Global, Freight, Distribution, Solutions. At the left is Timothy Dooner, and at the right, Christopher Carpenter.
(SPEECH)
Maybe. I'm worried, though. Let's talk to Christopher Carpenter, Regional Inland Marine Specialist, Risk Control at Travelers. Chris, you like the dogs?
[LAUGHS]
CHRISTOPHER CARPENTER: Love the dogs.
TIMOTHY DOONER: Love the dogs? Well, hey, this is the first time. Welcome to “What The Truck”. I think this is the first time you've been on the show. So before we jump into things, let's let everyone what you do over there at Travelers.
(DESCRIPTION)
Text, Christopher Carpenter, Regional Inland Marine Specialist/Risk Control, Travelers.
(SPEECH)
CHRISTOPHER CARPENTER: Yeah, yeah. It's great to be here, and thanks for having me. I'm one of the Regional Inland Marine Specialists who assists Underwriting with making decisions on risks that we take on by providing different types of analysis and assessments. And at Travelers, we have over 500 Risk Control consultants and specialists throughout the country, which includes our transportation specialists.
And they assist our transportation customers in preventing losses through surveys. Different trainings, discussing best practices, and much more.
TIMOTHY DOONER: Wow, you sound busy. A little overwhelmed, but I'll let you get back to it soon. But I have a few more questions to ask you here. First off, what's going on in reefer in 2023, right? What problems are you seeing out there on the road?
CHRISTOPHER CARPENTER: I mean, it's no surprise that the industry as a whole is constantly dealing with reefer losses. And we're talking about shipments that need to be temperature controlled. Things like ice cream, meat, flowers, frozen and refrigerated foods. Produce, and there's even some pharmaceuticals. And these are just some of the commodities that can be damaged during reefer losses.
But as far as common issues, they can range from everything from improper loading and stowage to the fact the industry is-- they're driving larger loads. And honestly, everything's just becoming more expensive. There's also a lack of emergency procedures and planning for reefer issues. And then we're also seeing more mechanical issues and breakdowns, which could be due to poor maintenance procedures.
A lack of routine maintenance… could be a lack of inspections for problems that can affect the reefer unit. Such as holes in the trailer or damaged air chutes or door seals. And even sometimes, the reefer unit itself running out of fuel. But we also see cross-contamination and spoilage, which could occur during a load shift. And of course, there's driver error, which could mean vehicle accidents or lack of training.
But really maintaining the reefer. And even setting the incorrect temperature on the reefer unit. And for example, let's say you're driving from Illinois through the Southwest. What happens to the temperature in your trailer when you hit Arizona at 117 degrees? I mean, you have to consider the importance of different climates when driving cross-country.
TIMOTHY DOONER: Yeah, sure. Prevention and avoidance is always better than making a claim. So help us out. What are some best practices to prevent that and to avoid running into some of this trouble?
CHRISTOPHER CARPENTER: Yeah. Sure. In most cases, best practices are pretty clear cut. But five things we typically look for from a risk control perspective when evaluating potential clients, that could include hiring procedures. We obviously want to make sure the carriers are hiring properly licensed drivers. Completing drug and alcohol screenings and background checks.
But we also want to gain an understanding of how they vet potential reefer drivers and their experience. What about training procedures? Are they only training on defensive driving, or do they also train on food safety procedures, trailer sanitation? How to maintain and inspect reefer units. How to precool units or load procurement. And then what about inspection and maintenance procedures? What type of inspections are they performing? What's the frequency of those inspections? And who's performing that maintenance? And then what about trailer replacement programs?
And then it comes to monitoring and tracking the temperature of the reefer unit. Do they have temperature recording devices? Is the driver checking and documenting the temperature? And then what about what types of alerts or warnings does the driver get? And then lastly, we want to learn about lessons the county might have learned from recent losses. What have they been doing differently because of a recent cargo loss?
We want to see additional measures taken to prevent a similar loss from reoccurring. And then what about near misses? How are they tracking those?
TIMOTHY DOONER: Yeah. Well, right before you came on, we were talking about tech. And one of the things they mentioned was sensors, right? And there's IoT. How is insurance looking at tech, especially in the reefer space? And what are some best practices around it?
CHRISTOPHER CARPENTER: Yeah. So first off, telematics has continued to evolve over the years with tracking the speed, heart breaking, heart turning. And that allows for proper evaluation of drivers. And being able to coach drivers based on that specific data. But even some telematics systems have remote temperature monitoring capabilities, where you can monitor temperature and humidity in real time, right, from your mobile device or your computer.
Or even better, some of the newer units out on the market, you can even control the temperature right from your office. Which is even more helpful when you need to precool that unit. And then we have ELDs to track hours of service and driver alerts and dispatch alerts. But another temporary option that we'd like to see is portable data recorders. And these can be really helpful. But only if they're used correctly, right? So the placement is really critical.
If you put it up against a wall or too close to the cooling unit, you're probably going to end up getting a false temperature reading. And then when you have bad data, you end up making bad decisions.
TIMOTHY DOONER: Wow. Chris, what else should our listeners be thinking about? What other problems relating to reefer can arise?
CHRISTOPHER CARPENTER: Yeah, I think it's also really important to be aware of some of the more common pre-shipment issues. One thing we have seen over the years are drivers setting the incorrect temperature that's listed on the bill lighting. Or sometimes the temperature being wrong already when they pick up a load. And then it also sounds silly and it's pretty simple, but one of the reoccurring problems we've seen is when a driver reads the bill lighting that says 15 degrees Celsius due to its origin being overseas.
And he or she doesn't recognize that it isn't Celsius, so they don't always make that necessary conversion to set the correct temperature on the reefer unit that's actually measured in Fahrenheit over here.
TIMOTHY DOONER: Yeah. You got ice cream, and you end up with a milkshake, right? Shows up too late, and that's not good at all. Well, Chris, thank you for walking us through some of the reefer madness that is going on here. If people need help with this reefer freight, they're starting to see the claims mount up. Or they're just they're just nervous, right? They're like, oh, I don't want them to start mounting up, who do I send them to?
CHRISTOPHER CARPENTER: Very good. Yep, you bet. Thanks again for having me. Appreciate it.
TIMOTHY DOONER: Just send them to Travelers. Go over to travelers.com, everybody. Thank you very much. Chris, thanks for coming on the show. Take care. Appreciate your time.
CHRISTOPHER CARPENTER: Thanks. You, too.
Podcast #31: Distracted Driving*
It's no surprise that we've seen an increase in distracted driving with people using cell phones while they drive. Talking, texting, social media, even online shopping are just a few examples of the increased distractions we are seeing today. Join Chris Hayes, AVP Risk Control, Transportation and Workers Compensation at Travelers, as he discusses the impact distracted driving is having on our lives and the economy.
Aired: 4/17/23
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(DESCRIPTION)
The host, Timothy Donner, sits behind a desk with a laptop, microphone, and cowbell. The background consists of decorative wood with red and purple accent lighting and a sign with the “What the Truck?!?” logo. On the right, Chis Hayes calls in from his home office. He wears a navy button up with the Travelers logo. He smiles.
(SPEECH)
TIMOTHY DOONER: You can't prepare for a bull to come out of nowhere where you're sitting there in traffic. Or maybe you can. Maybe travelers know something about that. I got Chris Hayes, AVP Risk Control at Travelers. Chris, how do you prepare for that?
CHRIS HAYES: That is a good one. I have not seen that before. So I don't know exactly how to respond to that.
TIMOTHY DOONER: Yeah, I wouldn't know either. Well, welcome back to the show. You have been on here before, but for those who haven't caught you, what does an AVP risk controller do at a place like Travelers?
CHRIS HAYES: I mostly go in shows like this.
[LAUGHTER]
(SPEECH)
TIMOTHY DOONER: Yeah.
CHRIS HAYES: What I do is I'm the head of our Risk Control organization for transportation and for workers compensation. So I consult with customers. I do research. I mostly work with our staff to make sure they understand why people get hurt, why crashes happen, and hopefully how to reduce that.
(DESCRIPTION)
Text, Chris Hayes, Assistant Vice President, Risk Control, Travelers.
(SPEECH)
TIMOTHY DOONER: Well, one of the reasons that crashes happen as any truck driver can tell you, looking down at everyone, they even put police in semi-trucks so they can see people is distracted driving. There's too many people on cell phones, iPads. Even the center consoles, it drives me-- I don't understand why audio manufacturers are doing this.
We banned cell phone use. Then we're just putting giant iPads on the side of the car with no tactical buttons on here. Is distracted driving a major issue right now? And is it getting worse? It seems like it is to me, just anecdotally being on the road.
CHRIS HAYES: Yes, it's getting much worse. We've been doing something called the risk index for distracted driving for a number of years now. And we asked 1,000 people tell us what you're driving and tell us the things that you do while you're driving. And there are things we never would have considered the first few years we did it that are just becoming commonplace.
The one that always gets us is shopping online while driving, is becoming increasingly common. I think last time we did the study it was 28% of people admitted to shopping while driving. So the amount of distractions out there definitely is real. It's not just technology, though. It's also people who are stressed, people who are tired, substance use, emotional distraction was something we saw. 76% of people in our study said I have been distracted because I'm emotionally invested in something.
And if there is ever a good argument why hands-free cell phone use is not a really good idea, that's it, because if you're wrapped up in that conversation, you will blow past that exit. And you might miss the brake lights lighting up in front of you.
TIMOTHY DOONER: Yeah, so we're out of dish soap. Everything super dirty. So your next thought is to go on Amazon. And the next thing you know, you're shopping for Dawn on there, and then you crash into a family or something. Is that the main cause? Is it cell phones? Is that the thing that's getting everybody?
(DESCRIPTION)
Cut to Chris Hayes in his home office.
(SPEECH)
CHRIS HAYES: It's hard to say what the one cause is. Cell phones definitely don't help. The traffic density is getting very high. Again, there's just a lot of people who are-- right after the pandemic started, there was a big drop in road density. I'm sure everyone listening to this saw that.
Less people on the road. People felt free to drive maybe faster, maybe a little more distracted, maybe not using signals. And it's shown in a number of studies that that habit has just continued as the pandemic has wound down, as traffic is to the point where it is now.
(DESCRIPTION)
Cut to Dooner and Hayes side by side.
(SPEECH)
TIMOTHY DOONER: Wow. Well, other than tech, what is distracting drivers? Is it really just those physical factors, those stress factors people are experiencing, those lingering thoughts to go get a prime deal?
CHRIS HAYES: Yeah, we're definitely seeing that it's not just the phone call. It's looking at your phone, using it for shopping taking pictures, taking video, texting, checking email. There's definitely a lot of people who used to work at the office all the time. A lot of us don't do that anymore.
I'm working from home today myself. And that idea that I'm not at work, but still I should be able to take that phone call. And if my boss calls, even though I'm in the car taking kids someplace, I still have to respond. I mean, that's a real thing as well. And I think that's-- in addition to the traffic density, in addition to everything else, that's also increasing in risk out there.
What's really amazing about this is it's increasing our risk on the road as a whole. I've been doing this for about 25 years, 20 years for Travelers. And these stats on annual fatalities has gone up so dramatically since the pandemic started. So right now, we are estimated by the National Safety Council to hit 46,000 fatalities for 2022. And who knows what this year is going to be like?
TIMOTHY DOONER: That's sort of crazy to hear, that they're getting worse. I mean, I get it, though. I mean, distracted driving is a big issue, but here's the problem. The distracted drivers probably are not paying attention to us right now. They're too busy reordering things on Amazon. So what can those of us who aren't distracted, who are paying attention and are on the road with these distracted drivers do to protect ourselves?
(DESCRIPTION)
Cut to Chris Hayes in his home office.
(SPEECH)
CHRIS HAYES: Yeah, it's really a message for a trucking audience because you look at the average person in a car-- I don't think I can call them four wheelers anymore, but I certainly used to in the earlier stages of my career. They drive 5,000, 6,000, 10,000 miles a year. That is not the same as a commercial truck driver.
If you're doing 100,000 miles a year, you have a different skill set. You have a different awareness. And I think it's imperative that you think about that and think about the community you've got on the road. If you've got 10 times the amount of experience driving and all those miles and you've seen all those things happening to you, you can guess, and you can see who's going to be-- who's distracted and who's weaving around the road and think about how am I going to interact around them.
As I think about commercial truck drivers, professional drivers, that's really the thing to consider, is that your experience does matter. And your experience can help those people on the road make through their day.
(DESCRIPTION)
Cut to Dooner and Hayes side by side.
(SPEECH)
TIMOTHY DOONER: Wow. Anything else that we should know about distracted driving? It's getting weird out there. You're starting to have autonomous cars, and you got people who are like autonomous because they're looking at their phone and not paying attention. There's a lot to be mindful of.
CHRIS HAYES: There is a lot to be mindful of. And if you look at the near future, there's a lot of discussion about autonomous vehicles. I've been hearing autonomous vehicles are right around the corner for about 15 years. I would say the cars are not going to drive themselves soon.
Cars will help you and trucks will help you-- and we're talking all the time about ADAS, automatic systems that will help you drive, but really the most important safety feature in any vehicle is you. It's the driver. And automatic braking, lane departure warnings, fatigue monitoring, everything that's in that vehicle to help you, is there to help you, not replace you.
So every decision you make on the roadway contributes to that risk on the road. So be careful, be safe for your sake, for your family sake, for my sake, because I share the roads with you.
TIMOTHY DOONER: Amen. Hey, a little cowbell for that. Chris, thank you so much. Go check out travelers.com when you're not driving, when you are parked. Don't go shopping behind the wheel and maybe we can improve some distracted driving today. Thank you so much for your time.
CHRIS HAYES: Thank you.
TIMOTHY DOONER: Take it easy.
Full Episode List*
2023 Episodes
- Episode #30: Claim Trends – Aired: 3/20/23
- Episode #29: Inflation Pressures – Aired: 2/24/23
- Episode #28: 2022 Recap and 2023 Predictions – Aired: 1/23/23
- Episode #27: 2022 Cargo Transport Recap and 2023 Outlook – Aired: 12/12/22
- Episode #26: Double Brokering: Prevention and Protection – Aired: 11/21/22
- Episode #25: Cargo Theft for Christmas – Aired: 10/17/22
- Episode #24: Coverage Solutions for Supply Chain Risks – Aired: 9/19/22
- Episode #23: Technology Theft – Aired: 8/15/22
- Episode #22: Transportation of Difficult Commodities – Aired: 7/18/22
- Episode #21: 2022 Cargo Transportation Trends Recap and Predictions – Aired: 6/29/22
- Episode #20: Carrier Claims Considerations – Aired: 5/16/22
- Episode #19: Truck Fires – Aired: 4/18/22
- Episode #18: 2021 Theft Summary and 2022 Predictions – Aired: 3/21/22
- Episode #17: Food Shipments and Seal Integrity – Aired: 2/28/22
- Episode #16: Reefer Shipments and Temperature Control – Aired: 1/24/22
- Episode #15: Carrier Vetting for Cargo Theft – Aired: 12/1/21
- Episode #14: Understanding Contractual Risk Transfer – Aired: 10/18/21
- Episode #13: How to Guard Against Large Losses in Transportation – Aired: 9/20/21
- Episode #12: Crash Avoidance Technologies for Transportation Companies – Aired: 8/16/21
- Episode #11: Shifting Cargo theft trends through 2020 and the first half of 2021 – Aired: 7/12/21
- Episode #10: Cyber Risk Prevention for Transportation Companies – Aired: 3/9/21
- Episode #9: Best Practices for Vetting Motor Carriers – Aired: 2/8/21
- Episode #8: Liability Risks Facing Freight Brokers and Ways to Avoid Them – Aired: 1/11/21
- Episode #7: Understanding Holiday Cargo Theft Trends – Aired: 12/11/20
- Episode #6: Common losses facing transportation businesses and risk management solutions to help combat them – Aired: 11/09/20
- Episode #5: Cargo theft highlights for 2020, and prevention and recovery strategies that can help mitigate loss – Aired: 10/19/20
- Episode #4: Claim considerations for transportation companies – Aired: 9/18/20
- Episode #3: Key cargo theft considerations for transportation companies – Aired: 8/10/20
- Episode #2: Key insurance coverages for transportation companies – Aired: 7/13/20
- Episode #1: What to look for when selecting a cargo insurance carrier – Aired: 6/22/20
*This material does not amend, or otherwise affect, the provisions or coverages of any insurance policy or bond issued by Travelers. It is not a representation that coverage does or does not exist for any particular claim or loss under any such policy or bond. Coverage depends on the facts and circumstances involved in the claim or loss, all applicable policy or bond provisions, and any applicable law. Availability of coverage referenced in this document can depend on underwriting qualifications and state regulations.
More Miles, More Knowledge
The transportation industry is continually evolving. From cargo theft trends to security best practices, have a listen and gather key takeaways on today’s most challenging issues.
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Our Special Investigations Group is dedicated to theft protection and recovery, guiding clients through the adoption of procedures that harden their operations against criminal activity and assisting law enforcement on the recovery of stolen goods.